Nextro wins Fortinet SASE specialisation in New Zealand

Nextro has achieved Fortinet Engage Partner Specialisation for SASE, recognising the New Zealand company's work with Fortinet secure access service edge products.

The specialisation is awarded to partners that meet Fortinet's technical, certification and commercial requirements and can demonstrate experience designing, deploying and supporting SASE systems in live customer environments.

Nextro has already completed several commercial deployments of Fortinet SASE for customers in New Zealand and Australia. Those projects have focused on giving organisations secure access for staff in multiple locations while simplifying network and security arrangements.

The designation strengthens Nextro's profile in converged networking and security services across both markets. The company operates as a cyber, physical and electronic security integrator and managed services provider, serving customers in sectors including critical infrastructure, transport, logistics and retail.

Fortinet's SASE offering combines networking and security services through a cloud-delivered model. Businesses have increasingly turned to that approach as hybrid work expands and more applications and services move to the cloud.

That shift has led many organisations to rethink how they connect users, offices and systems without relying on traditional network boundaries. In that context, SASE has emerged as a way to combine connectivity and security controls in a single service, with the aim of reducing operational complexity and improving oversight.

Martyn Levy, Managing Director of Nextro, said the certification reflected both technical capability and project delivery.

"Achieving Fortinet's SASE specialisation is an important milestone for Nextro. It confirms not only our technical capability, but also our experience delivering these solutions in production environments. Our customers are looking for simpler, more effective ways to secure hybrid work and cloud adoption, and Fortinet's SASE is a key part of that," Levy said.

Fortinet also highlighted the role of specialist partners in deploying the technology. The specialisation is intended to identify partners that have invested in the skills needed to deliver secure access services.

"Partners who achieve the Fortinet SASE specialisation have demonstrated a strong commitment to developing the skills and experience required to deliver secure access solutions. Nextro's achievement reflects its ability to help organisations adopt a converged networking and security approach that supports hybrid work and cloud-first strategies," said Nick Frantzen, Country Manager, Fortinet New Zealand.

Market whift

The announcement comes as network and security suppliers position themselves around demand for cloud-based access controls and distributed network management. Companies are trying to protect users connecting from homes, branch sites and mobile devices while managing access to software hosted in public cloud environments.

For service providers and integrators, vendor specialisations can signal training, product familiarity and project experience. They can also help customers identify partners that have completed comparable deployments rather than simply selling software licences.

Nextro's network portfolio includes SD-WAN, managed firewalls, managed IT networks and operational technology networks. Alongside its networking business, it also provides physical security systems such as surveillance, access control and intrusion detection, giving it a broader position in the security market than many IT-only resellers.

The new Fortinet recognition covers the full span of customer work, from design and implementation to ongoing support. That may matter for organisations replacing separate point products with a more unified model for access, inspection and policy control.

Regional focus

Although based in Auckland, Nextro operates across New Zealand and Australia. Its named customer base includes Auckland Airport, DHL Global Forwarding, Eden Park, Port Taranaki, Hotel Britomart and the Britomart Precinct.

The latest designation gives the company another credential as competition intensifies among service providers seeking work tied to cloud migration, hybrid work and network modernisation. It also highlights Fortinet's effort to build a channel ecosystem capable of delivering SASE projects in local markets.

For customers, the practical test will be whether specialist partners can reduce the complexity of combining connectivity, identity, policy and security inspection across dispersed users and sites. Nextro says it has already moved beyond accreditation alone by completing multiple commercial deployments.